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2017 FIVB World Tour update after Gstaad Major

Lausanne, Switzerland, July 10, 2017 — The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) held the 14th event overall on the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar last week, the double-gender $600,000 Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major tournament in Switzerland.

There have now been 10 men’s events and 13 women’s tournaments so far on the 2017 FIVB World Tour. It was the 18th consecutive year that a FIVB World Tour stop has been held in the peaceful mountain village at the base of the Swiss Alps.

Last week in Gstaad, a team from the United States won the men’s gold medal in Switzerland while a team from Germany earned the women’s top spot on the podium.

This week, the 2017 FIVB World Tour will be in Korea for the women’s FIVB Daegu 1-Star event. Also this week, the double-gender FIVB U-21 Beach Volleyball World Championships will be held in Nanjing, China. In two weeks the FIVB will be presenting three FIVB World Tour events. The double-gender FIVB Olsztyn 4-Star tournament will be held in Poland (July 19-23) while the women’s FIVB Ulsan 1-Star tournament will be played in Korea (July 20-22) and the double-gender FIVB Agadir 1-Star tournament will be held in Morocco.

FIVB GSTAAD MENWinning the men’s gold medal at the Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major with an unblemished 7-0 match record all won in two-sets each was USA’s third-seeded Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena who stopped Poland’s 10th-seeded Olympians Bartosz Losiak/Piotr Kantor in straight sets, 21-18, 21-19 in 38 minutes. It was the 36th career FIVB World Tour gold medal for Dalhausser, who was born in Switzerland, seventh for Lucena and seventh for the Dalhausser/Lucena tandem who have now played in 24 FIVB World Tour events as a team.

USA's Phil Dalhausser, right, was selected the men's Most Outstanding Player at last week's Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major

Earning the men’s bronze medal in Gstaad was Brazil’s top-seeded Alvaro Filho/Saymon Barbosa who toppled Brazil’s sixth-seeded compatriots Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola in straight sets, 21-12, 21-16 in 36 minutes. Playing in just their sixth FIVB World Tour event as a team, this was the first bronze medal for the Alvaro/Saymon duo.

In the Gstaad men’s semifinals, USA’s Dalhausser/Lucena advanced to the gold medal match by defeating Brazil’s Evandro/Andre in straight sets, 21-19, 21-18 in 46 minutes and, Poland’s Losiak/Kantor advanced by bouncing back from a first set loss to defeat Brazil’s Alvaro/Saymon in three sets, 19-21, 21-15 and 15-13 in 50 minutes.

USA’s Phil Dalhausser was selected as the men’s Most Outstanding Player of the Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major.

FIVB GSTAAD WOMENWinning the women’s gold medal at the women’s Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major tournament with a solid 7-0 match record was Germany’s sixth-seeded Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude who stunned Brazil’s second-seeded Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca in straight sets, 21-18, 22-20 in 36 minutes. Playing in their 46th tournament as a team, it was the second career FIVB gold medal for Laboureur and Sude both as a team and individually as well. For Brazil’s Talita/Larissa it was just their third silver medal to go with 15 gold medals in the 33 tournaments they have played as a team.

Earning the women’s bronze medal in Gstaad was Canada’s fifth-seeded Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes defeated Switzerland’s ninth-seeded home country hopefuls Joana Heidrich/Anouk Verge-Depre in straight sets 21-145 21-12 in 35 minutes. For Canada’s Pavan/Humana-Paredes it was their second straight podium in seven tournaments as a team following their gold medal victory in last week’s Swatch FIVB Porec Major. It was also the Canadian’s second bronze medal as a duo.

To reach the women’s gold medal match in Gstaad from their respective semifinals, Germany’s Laboureur/Sude came from behind to finally defeat Switzerland’s Heidrich/Verge-Depre in three sets in the longest women’s match of the tournament, 15-21, 23-21 and 20-18 in 61 minutes and Brazil’s Talita/Larissa swept Canada’s Pavan/Humana-Paredes in two sets, 21-16, 21-15 in just 32 minutes.

Germany's Chantal Laboureur, left, and Julia Sude worked so well together earning the gold medal last week in Gstaad that they were selected women's co-Most Outstanding Players for the tournament

Germany’s Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude were selected as the co-Most Outstanding Players of the women’s Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major.

NEW FIVB WORLD RANKING SYSTEMPart of the latest edition of the FIVB Sports Regulations for beach volleyball, the new FIVB World Ranking system has been established based on the FIVB Beach Volleyball Ranking Points earned at the eight best performances as a team in all FIVB sanctioned or homologated Beach Volleyball Events over a 365-days period. The FIVB World Ranking is updated every Monday after an FIVB sanctioned or homologated event granting FIVB Beach Volleyball Ranking Points.

MEN’S EARNINGSIn the 2017 FIVB World Tour men’s earnings after 10 events, USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena duo has moved to the top of the money list with $78,000 in four events with two gold medals. Second is Brazil’s Saymon Barbosa/Alvaro Filho with $76,000 in six events with one gold medal, third is Italy’s Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai with $72,500 in seven events, fourth is Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak with $71,000 in six events and fifth this week is Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola with $63,500 in six events.

Tied for sixth this week with $63,000 each in earnings are Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt in five events with one gold medal and Brazil’s Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes/Pedro Solberg in six events with one gold medal. Eighth is Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin with $60,100 in eight events with two gold medals, ninth is Russia’s Oleg Stoyanovskiy/Artem Yarzutkin with $42,700 in seven events, 10th is USA’s Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb with $39,000 in five events, 11th is Spain’s Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera with $47,000 in six events and 12th is Poland’s Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek with $36,500 in six events.

WOMEN’S RANKINGSFor the women after 13 events on the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca duo is at the top of the current women’s FIVB World Rankings with 4,300 points, second is Gemany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude with 4,240 points, third is Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova with 3,580 points, fourth is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa with 3,240 points and fifth is Canada’s Melissa Humana-Parades/Sarah Pavan with 3,040 points.

WOMEN’S EARNINGSIn the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour women’s earnings after 13 events, Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca duo continues in the top spot with $103,000 in six events with two gold medals, second is Canada’s Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes with $82,000 in five events with one gold medal, third is Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa, with $80,000 in earnings in six events with one gold medal, fourth is Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude with $78,500 in six events with one gold medal and fifth is Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova with $66,000 in six events.

Sixth in earnings this week is Brazil’s Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas with $55,500 in seven events with one gold medal, seventh is Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich/Anouk Verge-Depre with $45,000 in five events, eighth is Switzerland’s Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli with $38,000 in six events, ninth is USA’s Summer Ross/Brooke Sweat with $37,000 in five events, 10th is Czech Republic’s Kristyna Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova with $35,100 in five events, 11th is Germany’s Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider with $34,000 in seven events and 12th is Brazil’s Taiana Lima/Elize Maia with $32,000 in six events.

MEN’S FINAL FOURSAfter 10 men’s tournaments on the 2017 FIVB World Tour regular season schedule, 16 countries have at least one final four placement. Leading with seven final four placements is Brazil (three gold medals, one silver medal, two bronze medals, one fourth place finish) while tied for second with six final fours each are Russia (two gold medals, one silver medal, two bronze medals, one fourth place finish) and the United States (two gold medals, one bronze medal, three fourth place finishes). Tied for fourth with four final four placements each are Poland (three silver medals, one bronze medal) and Italy (two silver medals, two bronze medals).

WOMEN’S FINAL FOURSAfter 13 women’s FIVB World Tour events to date on the 2017 calendar, 13 countries have earned at least one final four finish. Leader in final four placements with 13 is Brazil (six gold medals, two silver medals, two bronze medals, three fourth place finishes) and second with eight is Germany (one gold medal, two silver medals, two bronze medals, three fourth place finishes). Third with six final four finishes is Canada (three gold medals, one silver medal, one bronze medal, one fourth place finish) while tied for fourth with four final fours each are China (one gold medal, three silver medals), the Czech Republic (two silver medals, one bronze medal, one fourth place finish) and the United States (two gold medals, one silver medal, one fourth place finish).

Tied for seventh with three final fours are Australia (one silver medal, two bronze medals) and Switzerland (one silver medal, one bronze medal, one fourth place finish). Tied for ninth with two each are Austria (one bronze medal, one fourth place finish) and Lithuania (two bronze medals) and tied for 11th with one final four placement are Greece (one bronze medal), New Zealand (one fourth place) and Russia (one fourth place finish).

MEN’S WINNING PERCENTAGEBased on percentage, statistically, in men’s action after 10 events on the 2017 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of 10 matches played, leading at 88.0% is USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (22-3), second at 76.7% is Brazil’s Saymon Barbosa/Alvaro Filho (23-7), third at 75.9% is Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt (22-7), fourth at 72.7% is Brazil’s Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes/Pedro Solberg (24-9) and fifth at 71.4% is Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (15-6).